Masumoto, David Mas - Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm

[oyceter]

David Masumoto wrote an epitaph for the Sun Crest peach in a newspaper (apologies for the vague references; I returned the book already), mourning how its short shelf life and lack of red blush meant that firmer but less tasty peaches were taking its place on shelves. He apparently received enough responses to persuade him to devote a year to try and save his peaches; the book is in some ways a story about how he does so, but it's really more the chronicle of a year of life on a farm. That's probably one of the few criticisms I can offer of the book—I desperately want to know what happened to his goal to save the Sun Crest, and I wish the edition I read had some sort of "ten years later" epilogue telling me what happened.

Other than not having an answer to my question, this book is wonderful. Masumoto's prose is lyrical, but he deals with the hard realities of farm life as well. It's still not quite the same as someone whose entire living depends on the farm (Masumoto's wife works in another industry to support the farm), but he captures the struggle between trying to act environmentally and naturally and trying to keep the farm going.

I also love the snippets of Japanese American history in the book. Masumoto is sansei, and though the book isn't about the Japanese-American experience, it's hard to keep out of the book, since so much of his family history has to do with internment and his grandparents not being able to own property.

But mostly, I love the story of the farm, of freak rainstorms that can ruin raisin crops, of cover crops and wildflowers, of peach-eating pests and fertilizer. Reading this book made me feel happy and fulfilled and at peace. Highly recommended.

Comments

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

The tree is commercially available, although oddly the picture shows a very blushy fruit.

http://www.vintagevirginiaapples.com/Shop_Show_product.php?Product_Id=292

edit: And Masumoto sells them!

http://www.masumoto.com/peach-harvest-notes-2005.htm

[estara.livejournal.com]

In Jonquil's link there's also mention of a second book about his peachfarming experience http://www.masumoto.com/heirlooms.htm and it surely looks from his website as if he's still peach farming. I like the idea of adopting your own peach tree ^^.

[oyceter]

Yay! I also have his Harvest Son out, so we'll see how much the story continues.

[oyceter]

Thanks! Although sadly, no trees for me with the apartment. And I saw that note on his site and am hoping Berkeley Bowl and Monterey Mkt. and Whole Foods are still buying the peaches now, so I can try and eat them next summer!

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I still want to read the book, but that would've driven me nuts.

[sanguinity]

I came very, very close to buying that book in August, but wasn't sure I could deal with a "and the dog died" ending (which it looked like it might have).

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it; and that the he still sells the peaches. I'll keep an eye out for it again. :-)

[oyceter]

It's not exactly a happy ending, but on the other hand, I left the book feeling happy and satisfied. And it's definitely not an "and the dog died" ending, even though I'm not exactly sure what happens with the peaches. He manages to write in a way that makes even the failures ok, probably because he curses at nature but is planning for next year even as he does it.

And well.. I don't know. It just made me very happy when I was reading it... I'd leave each chapter with a quiet smile.

[serrana.livejournal.com]

There was a lengthy profile in...I think it was actually the UC Berkeley alumni magazine, a couple of years ago (I don't really subscribe to magazines, but they send that to me every other month regardless).

*pokes internet* This (http://alumni.berkeley.edu/California/200705/wartzman4.asp) isn't what I was thinking of, but it's an interesting where-are-they-now thing.

[oyceter]

Oh cool, thanks for the link!

[readsalot.livejournal.com]

I can remember reading some article about the Masumoto family and peaches in the LA Times a while ago. Searching gives me three links, but none of them are the article I remember. Still, you can see that David Mas Masumoto is still farming peaches.

Dream Food

Chefs await Elberta peach deliveries from Masumoto farm

Elberta Peach tasting menu at Craft

[oyceter]

Yay, even more links, thank you!

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

That looks very interesting. Thanks for the rec.

[oyceter]

No problem, hope you enjoy!